In packet-switched networks such as Internet Protocol (IP) networks (e.g., the Internet), videos are sent between network devices as streams of digital packets of information. Because videos take up a great deal of bandwidth when they are being streamed across the network, the data for a video is typically compressed before it is placed inside of a digital packet. For example, a codec can be used to compress a video in accordance with a defined encoding standard before transmitting the video across the network. One example of a codec used to compress videos is the Moving Picture Experts Group 2 Transport Stream (MPEG-TS) codec. When MPEG-TS compression is used, a video is split up into many individual segments of compressed MPEG-TS video data that form a video stream. The MPEG-TS segments are inserted into IP packets, which are then sent out along the network towards one or more target devices. An IP packet is an example of a “network layer” packet, while an MPEG-TS segment is used as input for a “transport layer.”
Some codecs allow a user to insert additional information known as metadata into a video. For example, metadata can describe a name for the video, a resolution for the video, and other information. As presently practiced, metadata and video data are combined together when a video is initially encoded/compressed. Thus, both types of information are compressed by a codec into a single video stream before they are transmitted along a network. When the video stream is later decompressed at a destination device, the video data and the metadata can be viewed by an end user. For example, when MPEG-TS encoding is used, individual compressed MPEG-TS segments can each describe video data or metadata.
By compressing video data and metadata together, codecs help to reduce the overall bandwidth of a video stream. However, they also make the metadata inaccessible to devices that do not have access to the codec.